Jagdeo replaced democracy with one-man rule

‘Judas betrayed Jesus, Jagdeo betrayed Jagan, he has no wife, no family, yet voted himself free plane tickets for he and his family’!

– Nagamootoo at AFC’s Canje rally

The rancorous political exchanges continued on Saturday with Alliance for Change (AFC) member, Moses Nagamootoo, accusing President Jagdeo of destroying the democracy fought for by the older members of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and replacing it with “one man rule”.
He made the claim on Saturday while addressing Berbicians at a recent meeting at Adelphi, East Canje, which he said, “historically has been the bed, the cradle of the revolution, the Berbice 1763 Revolution against slavery”. He urged the gathering to make a pledge to “get rid of modern slavery in Guyana”, since he, too has “broken his chains”.
“I am the slave to no one and therefore, am capable of making my own decision”, he posited. He stated that the AFC, which is a “rainbow coalition of all races, cultures, and religions,” is the fulfillment of Dr Cheddi Jagan’s wish for a “new, clean, decent alliance to take the country forward”.
Nagamootoo, while debunking claims of him wanting Vice- Presidency on the AFC ticket, said that he has never dreamt of being president, but knows that “I am qualified to be president”. “I know I have served my country in all my positions and excelled in those positions, for opening a school that Dr Jagan encouraged me in an area for sugar workers; from Ithaca to Bush Lot, asking people who had children who wanted to go to school”, he said. He touted his life as being one dedicated to community work and to service. He lashed out at Dr. Cheddi ‘Joey’ Jagan for not standing by his father but “who came back and fought his own father, formed two political parties to bring him down, and before the man died, he went and divided the man’s yard, put up a house inside and sold it”. Nagamootoo said he came out of the wounds of struggles and sacrifice to bring freedom to Guyana in 1992.
Referring to a PPP campaign ad that has been airing on the television labeling Nagamootoo as ‘Judas’, the politician stated he was having problems with the PPP since before 2006, and that “they were destroying the party from inside”.
“Judas betrayed Jesus; Jagdeo betrayed Jagan! Because the things he started to do, Jagan will cry in his grave! And Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Jagdeo betrayed Jagan for thirty, hundred, and a thousand pieces of silver a month that is the $3 M pension a month!” Nagamootoo said.
The AFC member said Judas took a “one- for- all payoff, but Jagdeo taking it in increments so that he can enjoy the filthy lucre until he dies!”
He stated that Dr Jagan, before he died, named him as his successor at a meeting in Lethem “and some other places in the Rupununi”. “I felt embarrassed when he said that. I went and told the newspaper people ‘do not publish this!’ I respected the unity of the party. I hounded on Comrade Cheddi as to why he did that”, he said. Subsequently after he was summoned to Freedom House and fired by Mrs. Jagan as Minister of Local Government. “They knew I was getting popular. Dr Jagan loved me as he loved a son and I was traveling around the country with him”, he posited.
He revealed other matters while he was still with the PPP/C and where he took various strong positions, and became highly popular within the party ranks, mentioning a situation where he nominated Dr Roger Luncheon as the Presidential Candidate and Ralph Ramkarran in 1997 “to be fair to the African population, since Dr Jagan loved Luncheon and trusted him”. He said he thought that we could have an alliance with African and Indians and “we would have united the country then using Dr Jagan’s death to bring in sympathy for us”. He said some members within the party then told him that they were not ready for an African president and it was then he realized that it was not Dr Jagan’s party anymore. He reminisced that a search then began to find a suitable person to replace the dead Dr Jagan, in what he called “somebody who come from Moscow, who is a Communist”.
“And this man doesn’t have a wife! He doesn’t have a family! He voted himself, free plane tickets, for he and his ‘family’!
He urged the people to embrace the policies of the AFC come November 28 and not to allow the 28 years of PNC rule to come back to Guyana. That said, he urged disenfranchised supports of the PPP and PNC to come on board with the AFC. Embracing a national government is one of the strong ideals of the AFC, thus strengthening the democratic process. He said, that unlike other candidates, AFC’s Presidential Candidate Khemraj Ramjattan is fit and ready to lead Guyana into the future.
He said there is no comparison among the leaders. “And for the reason that Ramotar sat there and allowed the destruction of democracy of the party; he ought to be voted out of this country!” he posited.
He accused the party of “helping themselves into the Wildlife Fund”. “I told them to investigate these people. They didn’t do it! Jagdeo was so incompetent and inefficient; he couldn’t handle the crime situation. He had to bring in other people!” Nagamootoo said he asked the PPP to cooperate with the opposition but “Jagdeo threw away” the idea.